This course is designed to train community health workers in behavior change communication skills to improve infant feeding, and to train the trainers of these community health workers. The training takes a practical approach to problem solving related to infant feeding.

This is a reference document for planners, implementers, and managers of community nutrition programs. Designed to improve the efficacy and sustainability of community nutrition programs, this document presents optimal practices and lessons learned from programmatic experiences in West Africa. In addition, it provides pertinent tools to be used in the various phases of planning and implementation of sustainable nutrition programs.

One of the most important lessons we have learned from our experience on community-based behavior change programs is usefulness of communication building blocks or cornerstones. Five such tools, developed by AED BCC teams in Madagascar and Ethiopia, have served as special impact boosters for community volunteers and health professionals.

The Community Surveillance Kit serves as a resource for countries aiming to improve detection, reporting, and follow-up of cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), a necessary step in the fight to eradicate polio. The Kit is designed for use by non-governmental organizations and other groups, such as the US Peace Corps, in partnership with Ministries of Health at the national, provincial, and district levels. The Kit includes an adaptation guide, a training guide, a training of trainers guide, a coordinator's manual, and a volunteers manual.

The BASICS Project developed this framework for community-based approaches to child health based on analysis of its programs in Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia, Honduras, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Bangladesh, and India. The framework includes coordination and partnerships at national, district, and community levels among ministries of health and other relevant ministries, NGOs/PVOs, donors, private/commercial sector, and media.

This report presents 16 emphasis behaviors that, if practiced by caretakers, could improve maternal and child health in communities. Criteria for identifying the emphasis behaviors included impact on multiple disease areas, demonstrated relationship with mortality and morbidity, impact on the most important public health problems in developing countries, measurability, feasibility, and cost effectiveness.

This training curriculum focuses on participatory learning and action (PLA) techniques for community-based programs. The curriculum uses experiential learning methods to teach the participatory program development approach; attitudes, behaviors, and skills necessary to be a successful PLA facilitator; and specific techniques that can be used.

Extra Time is a youth peer education workbook that uses the game of soccer and its global stars to convey critical HIV prevention and life skills messages to young people and prompt them to share what they’ve learned with friends and family. Extra Time has been adapted for various sports-based HIV prevention programs and for diverse target audiences in countries across Africa. Currently available in English and French.

In response to a need for increased cross-sectoral programming in the population field, AED -- through the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) Population Communication Services Project -- created Healthy Futures. This project used a participatory approach to mobilize Kenyan communities around the issue of primary school dropout among girls. This approach led to the creation of school based girls' clubs that provided reproductive health information and guidance to girls. The project also developed a comic book promoting girls' education, integrated girls' education into national song contests and recruited adult role models to promote the benefits of girls' education among parents in the project communities.

This document outlines six guiding principles of an approach to streamlining community based programs.

The Champion Community Initiative grew from an idea piloted in Madagascar in the mid-1990s into a systematic approach to achieving development goals. It was developed by AED and has been applied in various countries to diverse health, environment, and education challenges. The approach involves program planners and communities in working together to select specific goals and supportive activities to be carried out in a defined frame of time (usually 6-9 months). Communities monitor their own progress towards achieving the goals. This document describes the basic principles of the Champion Community Initiative, different variations of the approach carried out in Madagascar, Ethiopia, and Jordan, and results achieved.